Second House Amendment Ups the Stakes on IANA Transition

The House of Representatives has passed another measure related to the proposed IANA functions transition, and has again attached it to “must pass” legislation. This move ups the ante and may well be the final straw that compels the Senate Commerce Committee to hold its own oversight hearing on the IANA transition proposal.

On May 30th the House adopted the Duffy Amendment to the Appropriations bill funding the Commerce, Justice, and State Departments in FY 2015. The final vote on the amendment was 229 in favor and 178 opposed – it was fairly partisan outcome, with only ten Democrats voting aye while just one Republican voted nay. The amendment not only prohibits the Commerce Department from surrendering the US counterparty role on the IANA contract but also slashes the NTIA’s budget by nearly $15 million. The underlying bill passed later that evening.

In speaking for his amendment, Rep. Duffy (R-WI) stated:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think most Americans are aware that the President has recently stated that he intends to transfer the core functions of the internet to an international or foreign body.

What my amendment does today will prohibit the President from using any of these funds to relinquish control of those core functions to the internet. I think this is an incredibly important amendment because America in our zest for freedom of speech has made sure that the internet an open forum for dialogue, an open forum for ideas. By relinquishing these rights, our core functions to a foreign body, I don’t think we will retain the current system of the internet and the current rights or freedom of speech that internet currently enjoys. if you look at stakeholders who have a say in how the internet is run, I think when we use the term stakeholders what we are referring to are foreign governments and corporations, I think we have to ask the question, do we think that China, that Russia, that Iran who have a say in the core functions of the internet have the same concern for freedom of speech that we Americans do? I think it’s important that this institution use its control of the purse strings to limit the president’s authority to transfer those core functions to this foreign body. With that I retain the balance of my time.

Adoption of the Duffy Amendment follows by one week House passage of the Shimkus Amendment to the Defense authorization bill. That amendment would mandate up to a one-year delay in carrying out the transition while the GAO studied and reported to Congress regarding the implications of any IANA transition plan forwarded by ICANN for NTIA review. Rep. Shimkus (R-IL) said via his press office that he also voted for the Duffy measure “to send a message that Congress is prepared to put a stop to the IANA transition altogether if the Administration continues to disregard the potential risks and dismiss his reasonable call for GAO review.” He reiterated his view that “Congressional oversight [is the] best path forward” and said he is “hopeful the Senate will adopt that approach as well.”

However, Commerce Committee member Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) responded to the amendment’s passage by declaring, “I am again disappointed by the irresponsible actions taken by House Republicans to delay NTIA’s transition of the IANA functions…Stakeholders from around the Internet including ISPs, edge providers, industry associations, technology experts, and public interest groups, all support NTIA’s transition plan. I will work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to ensure that these provisions are removed as this bill moves forward.”

Two balls are now in the Senate’s court, and a negotiated version of the Shimkus GAO study Amendment would certainly appear a more palatable course for the Administration than the flat IANA transition prohibition and NTIA budget slashing of the Duffy Amendment. Neither bill will be on the Senate floor in the immediate future, which gives the Senate Commerce Committee more than enough time to hold its own IANA functions transition and ICANN accountability oversight hearing.

A Senate Commerce hearing could give NTIA a platform to demonstrate that it is effectively overseeing the process and will not just rubber stamp any proposal served up by ICANN. It could also inquire into whether the IANA transition and enhanced accountability processes proposed by ICANN adequately comport with NTIA’s request that it convene stakeholders for the purpose of creating acceptable plans — without trying to control that process or its outcome. ICANN received broad resistance to its original transition plan process blueprint and has yet to announce whether it will respond with course corrections.